Niecy Nash-Betts Shouts Out Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland

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Listen, we’ve been giving Niecy Nash-Betts her well-deserved flowers for her recent Emmy Award win, but we haven’t said enough about what a real one she is for shouting out over-policed Black women like Breonna Taylor and Sandra Bland during her acceptance speech.

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Her gesture even caught the attention of Breonna’s mom, who thanked her for putting her daughter’s name back in the spotlight.

“I accept this award on behalf of every Black and brown woman who has gone unheard and overpoliced,” said Nash-Betts, who won the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Limited/Anthology Series or TV Movie category for her role in Netflix’s Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. “Like Glenda Cleveland. Like Sandra Bland. Like Breonna Taylor.”

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So, besides Taylor—who, time and time again, has been denied justice for her death at the hands of trigger-happy cops during a botched raid—Nash-Betts honored Cleveland, whom she portrayed in the film, and Bland, who never received the same massive wave of protests and media attention Taylor and other victims of police violence like George Floyd got.

Unlike Taylor, Bland wasn’t actually killed by a police officer. Her 2015 death in a Texas jail cell was ruled a suicide, but we’ve seen footage, taken by police dashcam and by Bland herself, that showed her aggressive and violent arrest by a cop who refused to even explain to her why she was being arrested. It was a great look for Nash-Betts to #SayHerName once more and help ensure it won’t get lost in the fight against injustice in America.

Meanwhile, Tamika Palmer, Breonna’s mother, told TMZ she was grateful to Nash-Betts and that it was “amazing” of her to “acknowledge women, including my daughter, who have tragically fallen victim to police brutality.”

“The lack of accountability for these injustices is undeniable, and it is crucial for us to keep saying their names and reminding people of the profound impact of their loss,” Tamika Palmer continued.

We have to keep saying their names. That’s part of the fight. If we don’t, who will?